Drapery supporting device and means for applying the same



March 5, 1957 F. R. WILLIAMS ETAL 2,783,832

DRAPERY SUPPORTING DEVICE AND MEANS FORAPPLYING THE SAME Filed Sept. 21,1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Free R. vvmm/m "/4/w/7 C. W////f0ra INVENTORS d w5W ATTORNEY March 5, 1957 F. R. WILLIAMS ElAL 2,783,832

DRAPERY SUPPORTING DEVICE AND MEANS FOR APPLYING THE SAME Filed Sept.21, 1953 4 Sheet s-Sheet 2 Free R. W////C7/77J A/v/n C. W/ ///fo/-0INVENTORS A TTOR/VE Y March 5, 1957 w l v s r 2,783,832

DRAPERY SUPPORTING DEVICE AND MEANS FOR APPLYING THE SAME Filed Sept.21. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

Fred R. W/ ///0m-5 /'l/v//7 C. W////fora INVENTORJ A TTOR/VE Y March 957F. R. WILLIAMS ETAL 2,733,832

DRAPE RY SUPPORTING DEVICE AND MEANS FOR APPLYING THE SAME Filed Sept.21, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Z? A/wn c. W////fo rc{ INVENTORJ /20 I IATTORNEY Fred R. W////0ma DRAPERY SUPPORTING DEVICE AND NIEANS FORAPPLYING THE SAME -This invention relates to a drapery supporting deviceI and means for applying the same, and more particularly to animproveddrapery hook and apparatus for attaching the same to the fabricof the drapery.

In the making of draperies, as heretofore customarily practiced, thefabric is formed with vertically extending folds or pleats at the top,and hooks are sewed to the fabric at spaced intervals, usually at theseams where the pleats are sewed, by which the drapery may be suspendedfrom a suitable support. The attachment of the hooks in this manner is atedious and time consuming operation, since each hook must beindividually sewed in place, and the labor thus involved constitutes avery substantial item in the cost'of the article.

Numerous attempts have been made to overcome the above difficulty, bythe use of hooks formed with pins, bends or other means for quicklyattaching them to the fabric, but such devices have provenunsatisfactory in use, particularly in connection with relatively heavydraperies, due to the inadequate support afforded which often causesstretching or tearing of the fabric.

It is an important object of the present invention to overcome the abovedisadvantages and to provide a drapery supporting device which isattached to the fabric without the necessity of sewing the same thereto.

Another object of the invention is the provision of drapery supportingmeans which is secured to the fabric of the drapery by the use offastening means which does not penetrate the fabric.

A further object of the invention is to provide drapery supporting meanswhich may be easily secured to the fabric of the drapery at any selectedone of a number of positions at differently spaced locations relative tothe upper extremity of the fabric, and which is readily removabletherefrom without injury to the fabric.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a draperysupporting device embodying a hook member having a shank portionprovided with an opening which is of key-hole shape, and a backing plateformed with a number of a longitudinally spaced openings therein,whereby the hook member may be secured to the plate by a rivet, eyelet,or the like, in a manner to be readily removed therefrom by movement ofthe shank of the hook member relative to the plate to permitdisengagement of the shank from the eyelet through the key-hole opening.

Another object of the invention is the provision of drapery supportingmeans of the type referred to which includes a hook member and a backingplate, and which is secured to the fabric by a fastening element adaptedto be inserted between folds of the fabric, which have been sewedtogether, and through registering holes in the member and plate.

A further object of the invention is to provide appa ratus for applyingdrapery supporting means of the kind described to drapery fabric, andwhich embodies means for locating the backing plate and hook member inthe desired relative positions on the fabric, and with the opening inthe hook member in registration with a selected 2,783,832 Fatented Mar.5, 1957 "ice one of .the openings in the backing plate, and forinserting a'fasteningfelementthrough the registerig openings to securethe hook memberto theplateand' fabric.

The foregoing arid' otherimportant objects and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from thefollowing detail description,constituting a specification of the same, when considered in conjunctionwith the annexed drawings, wherein 1 e V Figure 1 is aside-elevationalview showing the apparatus for applying thedraperytsupporting device of'the invention to drapery fabric, andshowing the apparatus its initial position;

Figure 2 is a side-elevationalview similar to thatof Figure 1, showingthe apparatus of the invention in another position of its'operation inthe securing of the drapery supporting devicegto thefabric;

Figure 3 is a CIOSSj-SCCilQDEIIVleW, takenialong the line 33, on anenlarged scale, looking inlthe direction indicated by the arrows;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in cross-section, andon an enlarged scale, showing the arrangement ofthe-parts of thepositioning means by which the draperysupporting device and fabric arepositioned preliminary tothe operation of the apparatus to secure thesame to the fabric;

Figure 5 is a front elevational view,,partly in crosssection, and on anenlarged scale, showing the backing plate andtfabric inposition on theapparatus, with the fastening element in position to secure the hookmember to the fabric and preliminary to the placing of the hook memberin positionprior to'the securing operation;

Figure 6 isa cross-sectional-view, taken along the line 66 of Figure 5,lookingyin the direction indicated by the arrows, and showing the hookmember placed in position to be secured to thefab ric by operation ofthe apparatus; I

Figure 7 is a cross-sectionalview similar to that of Figure 5,showing-the parts of the apparatus in the position which they .occupy'at the completion of the securing operation;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the draperyshowing the drapery supporting device secured thereto;

Figure 9 is a perspective view on a somewhatenlarged scale, showingthefdetails of construction of the backing plate of the draperysupporting device;

Figure 10 is a perspective view similar to that of Figure 9,illustrating a somewhat modified form of fastening element by which thehook member is secured to the backing plate; and

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the fastening element illustrated inFigure 10, showing the same detached from the backing plate and hookmember.

Referring nowto the drawings in greater detail, .the invention isillustrated in connection with the manufacture of articles of drapery,such as curtains, or the like, but it will be understood thatthesupporting means and the apparatus by which the same is secured tothe fabric are capable of more general application, and may be employedwherever means of a similar character are to be applied to articles ofthe same general character. In the present illustration the numeral 10designates a piece of fabric, such as drapery material, which. mayconsist of 'one or more layers of fabric, as indicated at 10 and 12 toprovide means for supporting the sametfrorn suitable margin, such foldsforming edges positioned in opposed parallel relation,

as clearly seen in Figure 8; In formingthe folds 20 and 22 the fabricmay be stitched together, as seen at 23, if desired, to retain the edgesof the folds permanently in parallel opposed relation. The

formation of the folds 20 and 22 will provide a continuous portion 26,of the fabric, extending forwardly of the front surface of the draperywhich connects the folds and which is adapted to be folded into pleats28, to provide an ornamental or decorative effect.

Suitable supporting elements, which in the present illustration take theform of hooks 36, are attached to the drapery in the locations where theedges of the folds 20 and 22 are positioned, in the manner indicated inFigure 8, and these support elements are secured to the fabric by meansof eyelets 34, or other similar fastening elements, which pass throughregistering openings in the hook and in a backing plate, such as thatillustrated at 38, positioned inside of the portion 26, and on theopposite face of the fabric to that on which the hook element islocated.

The hook elements 36 are preferably formed as illustrated in Figures 6and 8, and are provided with widened shank portions 40, having anopening 42 therethrough, which is of key-hole formation, the narrowportion of the opening being of a size corresponding substantially tothe external diameter of the fastening element, such 1 as the eyelet orrivet 34, and the wide portion of the opening 42 being of a size topermit free passage therethrough of the head of the eyelet. i i As bestseen in Figure 9 of the drawings the backing plate 38 is somewhatelongated and may be formed with rearwardly extending longitudinal sideportions 44, 44, to form a channel, and the plate preferably has a.number of openings 46, at equally spaced intervals longitudinallythereof. t

'Suitable openings 48 are also provided at each of-the ends of thebacking plate, by which the same maybe sewed to the fabric whendesirable or expedient. As

will be seen from an examination of Figures 6, 9 and of the drawings,the openings 46 are equally spaced longitudinally of the backing plate,but the end onesof the openings 46 are spaced at somewhat difierentdistances from the respective ends of the plate. By such arrangement ofthe openings in the backing plate the hook element may be attached tothe drapery at different distances from the upper edge thereof, whileatthe same time the backing plate may alwaysoccupy the same positionrelative thereto,'and by reversing the'backing plate the distances ofthe holes 46 from the upper edge of the drapery will be somewhatchanged, so that a great number of points of attachment at varyingdistances from the upper edge of the drapery is provided for the hookelement.

I It will be apparent that in the use of the above described supportingmeans the fastening element or eyelet 34 may be inserted through theopening 42 of the hook element and extended between the folds and 22 ofthe fabric, without penetrating or otherwise damaging the fabric, andmay also be inserted through one of the openings 46 of the backingplate, whereupon the fastening element may be clamped or set toclampingly engage the hook member and backing plate to the fabric tosecurely hold the hook in place thereon at the desired location.

In the event that it should be desired to remove the hook from thefabric the hook member may be forced downwardly on the shank of thefastening element 34,

ing the head of the eyelet through the opening inthe sewed seam.

The apparatus by which the supporting device is applied to the draperyis illustrated in detail in Figures 1 through 7 of the drawings, andincludes an operating head 50, which is adapted to be attached in anyconvenient manner to a suitable support, such as a table or benchindicated at S, and which carries die and drive tool mechanism 52 and54, respectively. The drive tool mechanism, as best illustrated inFigure 3, comprises a plunger is, which moves vertically in acylindrical chamber58 inthe head, and is urged upwardly therein by acoil spring 60, which bears at its upper end on a downwardly facingexternal shoulder 62 on the plunger, and at its lower end on an internalupwardly facing shouldcr 64 carried by the head. The plunger has alongitudinal external groove 66 therein, into which a pin68 car tied bythe headextends, to limit upward movement of the plunger in the chamberby engagement with the plunger at the lower end of the groove.

The lower end of the plunger 56 is of reduced diameter and extendsdownwardly from the chamber 58, and

carries at its lower end a stem 70, to the lower end of which a cylinder72 is attached, and within the cylinder 72 there is a plunger 74, havinga stem 76 which extends through the bottom of the cylinder. The plunger74 is yieldiugly urged downwardly in the cylinder 72 by a coil spring78, which bears at its upper end against the lower end of the stem 70,and at its lower end against the top of the plunger; The lower end ofthe cylinder 72 forms the drive tool and the stem 76 is adapted to holdthe tubular eyelet 34 therein in position to be set by operation of theapparatus ,to secure the hook member to the backing plate and fabric.

The plunger 56 is adapted to be moved downwardly in the chamber 58 by alever 80, which bears at one end against the'up'per end of the plunger,and is pivotally connected at its other end to a link 82. The lever 80'is pivotally mounted mediate its ends by suitable means, indicated at84, on the head 50. The link 82 is pivotally connected by suitablemeans, suchas a pin 86, to one end of a second link 88, whose other endis pivotally attached to the head 50, and the pin 86 extends through anelongated opening 90 in one end of an operating lever 92, which ispivotally secured mediate its ends to the head, and extends downwardlybeneath the same. The lower end of the lever 92 carries a foot pedal 94,by

. which the same may be operated. Upon operation of the lever 92 bydepressing the pedal 94, the lever will be moved to the positionillustrated in Figure 2, wherein the pin 86 is moved toward the head 50,to cause the lever 80 to he moved in a direction to press the plunger 56downwardly in the chamber 58, thus moving the drive tool 72.downwardlytoward the die 98 of the apparatus. Upon release of the lever 92 theparts will be returned to the position of Figure 1, by the spring 60which moves the plunger 56 to its fully retracted position in thechamber 58.

The die mechanism of the apparatus comprises a die member 98, which iscarried on a support 100 extending forwardly from the head 50 beneaththe drive t'ool mechanism, and which has an upwardly opening widenedgroove 102 in its upper face, forming a trackway for a movable stopelement 104.- The stop member 104 is adjustable longitudinally of thesupport 100 in the groove 102, and is carried on a shaft 166, which isslideable 1n 7 the head 50,'and is held in any desired position ofadjustment therein by means of a set screw 108, orotherwise, whereby theposition of the stop member 104 relative to the drive tool and die maybe adjusted as desired. The stop member 104 is provided with a stepportion 119, whose forward edge is engageable with an end of a backingplate 38 in position in the groove 102, to lo- 1 onto the backing plateat a desired position relative to the drive tool and die, and the stopmember also has a greases back wall portion 112, which is engageablewith the upper edge of the drapery so that the same will be positionedat a predetermined location relative to the backing plate during theoperation of the apparatus.

The head 50 also carries forwardly extending shafts 114, 114, which arelocated on opposite sides of the support 1011 in substantially parallelrelation thereto, and upon which the fabric may rest in the manner shownin Figures 5, 6, and 7, so that the folds 28 and 22 may be positioned ontop of the backing plate in position for the insertion of the fasteningelement 34 therebetween in the operation of securing the hook member andbacking plate to the fabric.

In making the drapery the fabric is formed with the end portions 16 and13 along the upper edge of the drapery and the fabric is then folded andstitched as indicated at 23 to form the folds 20 and 22 providing theportion 26. When the fabric has thus been formed with the requirednumber of folds a backing plate 38 is placed in the groove 102 of thesupport 100 with its side portions 44 directed upwardly, as seen inFigures 5, and 7, and one end of the backing plate abutting the forwardedge of the step portion 110 of the stop member 104, whereby a selectedone of the openings 46 of the backing plate will be positioned above thedie 98, and directly beneath the drive tool 72. The drapery is thenpositioned on the support with the seam 23 positioned above the backingplate, so that the meeting edges of the folds 20 and 22 pass over theopening 46, as best seen in Figures 5 and 7, and the upper edge of thedrapery is engaged with the upright wall 112 of the stop member 104.With the drapery and backing plate thus positioned on the support afastening element, such as a tubular eyelet or rivet 34, is positionedon the stem 76 to engage the lower end of the drive tool 72 and a hookmember 36 is placed over the eyelet with the shank of the eyeletextending through the narrow portion of the key-hole opening 42, asshown in Figure 6.

In position of the parts it will be seen that the narrow portion of thekey-hole opening 42 is in registration with the selected one of theopenings 46 of the backing plate, and upon depressing the lever 92 bymeans of the foot pedal 94, the plunger 56 may be forced downwardly inthe head to move the drive tool 72 downwardly, thus forcing the lowerend of the eyelet 34 between the folds 20 and 22 of the drapery andthrough the selected one of the holes 46 in the backing plate intoengagement with the die 98, whereby the lower end of the eyelet will bespread or set in the manner indicated in Figure 7, to securely clamp thefolds of the fabric between the hook member and the backing plate, andattach the hook securely to the drapery at the desired location. Uponreleasing the lever 92 the plunger 56 is returned to its uppermostposition by the spring 60, whereby the drive tool 72 will be movedupwardly, whereupon the drapery with the hook attached thereto may beremoved from the apparatus and the operation repeated until the requirednumber of books has been attached along the upper marginal portion ofthe drapery.

In the event that it should be desirable to attach supporting hooks tothe end portions of the drapery, where there are no pleats, this may beaccomplished with the fastening means illustrated in Figures 10 and 11,wherein a staple-like element 116 is illustrated, which may have aflattened central portion 118, and pointed opposite end portions 128,120. in applying a hook to the fabric by the use of this staple device abacking plate is positioned between the layers of fabric, and a hookmember 361s positioned on the outer surface of the fabric layer 14 withthe hook member located between two of the openings 46 of the backingplate, and the pointed end portions 120 of the fastener element 116 arepassed through the openings or" the backing plate, penetrating thefabric and also passing through the key-hole opening 42 of the hookmember, whereupon the pointed end of the fastener may be bent outwardly,as seen in Figure 10, to securely fasten the hook member to the plate.

it will thus be seen that the invention, as described above, provides adrapery supporting device of simple design and economical manufacture,and apparatus for applying the same, whereby such devices may be quicklyand securely attached to the drapery without the necessity of sewing thesame thereto.

The invention has been disclosed herein in connection with certainspecific embodiments of the same, but it will be understood that this isintended by way of illustration only, and that numerous changes can bemade in the construction and arrangement of the various parts withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appendedclaim.

Having thus clearly shown and described the inven tion, what is claimedas new and desired to secure by Letter of Patent is: I

A supporting device for an article of drapery having folds whose edgesare arranged in opposed parallel relation comprising a hook and anelongated backing plate member disposed on opposite sides of the foldsand overlying said edges, said hook member having a fiat shank portionprovided with a key hole shaped opening therethrough and said platemember having substantially equally longitudinally spaced openingstherethrough the endmost openings of said plate member being spaced atdifferent distances from the respective ends of the plate member, saidplate member also having a channel shaped portion mediate its ends whosefree side edges are spaced apart a distance to receive between them saidshank portion in engagement with the folds, a selected one of theopenings of said plate member being disposed in registration with thenarrow portion of said key hole shaped opening, and fastening meansextending through the registering openings and between the edges of thefolds and engageable with the members to clampingly secure the membersto the folds.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS500,869 Easton July 4, 1893 1,711,304 Beste Apr. 30, 1929 1,811,619Dwyer June 23, 1931 1,882,549 Wilson Oct. 11, 1932 2,058,387 PatarsiniOct. 20, 1936 2,522,358 Franson Sept. 12, 1950 2,646,116 Freeman July21, 1953

